I love how economic reporting is always framed as “these quirky little consumers’ wacky proclivities!” and not the inevitable consequences of increasingly-concentrated wealth.
In other (more sane words): workers burnt by ever increasing prices decide to pack a lunch rather than be one of the last remaining suckers spending $25 for a sandwich.
The “lunch rush” was when our bosses promised all the city leaders that we would have to be in the office every day so we are forced to buy lunch in the area. It’s manufactured demand.
If I work from home and eat lunch there or at a place near my house all that money stays in my neighborhood though and my property values go up.
“pinching pennies” implies more control over the situation than “stagnant wages, rent, student loans, etc. have made meals for one person over ten dollars a rare luxury”
I traveled last summer to Europe and I remember thinking about how cheap every meal was compared to back home. I don't even live in an "expensive" city
Especially for lunch, pubs and food halls. They were designed for regular people with deals and prices where you can have it everyday. This is even in expensive Norway and Denmark. I got a good hot dog for like 5 bucks cheaper in Scandinavia than back home. It's ridiculous
Every time I visit Ireland I’m straight to the local shop to get locally butchered, prepared meals at 3 trays for €10. Each tray is two portions. I’m always losing weight with each visit - good quality and price is just so much better.
Restaurants are getting really expensive. Even “budget” fast food like McD’s has skyrocketed. If we go out to eat I have to cringe at the bill (and the ridiculous tip that we still can’t get rid of despite rising costs) at the end of the meal.
I traveled to Japan and was blown away at their food culture.
They have convenience stores and supermarkets that sell full lunches for a few bucks (300-600 yen). The workers have no issues microwaving your food. So getting lunch for under 1000 yen ($7.50) was extremely common, even in big cities like Tokyo.
Their fast food (western like McDonald’s, as well as the gyudon restaurants like yoshinoyas) are also still cheap.
The last thing is just the cultural difference. Customers will outright shame a restaurant if it’s too expensive and it sucks. You see it all the time on Google Reviews. And restaurant owners (of which I spoke to a few) are often too terrified to raise prices because of that shame. One restaurant owner flat out told me that he feels embarrassed to raise prices because he believes his food brings folks happiness and he doesn’t want to hurt the average Japanese.
These threads are always interesting. On one hand, fuck capitalism and fuck corporations. Prices have fucking skyrocketed and it feels like we’re legitimately on the brink of some sort of economic collapse.
On the other hand, y’all really been eating out every day for lunch? That shit has always been many times more expensive than making your own lunch.
In the Seattle area, pretty much nobody brought back lunch service after covid. Finding a place to say during lunch time is pretty much limited to what’s in the tourist areas.
I get a small salad from our work cafeteria everyday, that with a drink and some peanut butter protein balls runs about $6.50 a day. I’ve tried making salads myself for the week, but inevitably stuff goes bad and it ends up being more hassle than I feel like it’s worth. I could probably cheapen it a bit more if I went down the street and got the $1.50 hot dog at Costco, but I’m trying to cut meat out of my diet where I can.
I used to get fast food regularly, but because of skyrocketing prices (+$10 for most fast food meals it seems like), and unhealthy numbers for cholesterol, I’ve tried to scale back where I can. Plus, staying at work, instead of driving out for food, gives me extra time to go for a walk over lunch. So it all just makes more sense to skip eating out (so to speak).
Also, quitting drinking is probably saving me about $20–40 a week and it’s a healthier option anyways and not as bad as I had been afraid of. Since turning 21 decades ago, I drank regularly and never considered quitting or had issues with it, but the twin specters of money and health made me reconsider.
Bean, chickpea, and lentil dishes last a week in the fridge (probably more tbh).
Also, if you have a desk/cube, a great tip I picked up from a vegan friend is to keep a jar of peanut butter and a spoon in your drawer. Before I became remote, I would eat about 2 tablespoons at 10, 3, and 5. Probably not quite as good as the protein balls but cheap and effective.
My girlfriend asked me a couple weeks ago why I bought 5 games on Steam. I told her I quit drinking at home and/or alone at the pub two weeks ago and I had money burning a hole in my pocket. (We don’t live together so she was unaware of my change in behavior).
For meal prep at home maybe look into veggie dishes that can freeze well? Like I’d imagine a veggie lasagna holds up in the freezer pretty well. Other than that, maybe set time aside one night during the week like Wednesday to do a long cook session where you have fresh leftovers that don’t spoil in the fridge?
Know a lot of people quitting right now. I think Covid a long with the years after took toll on a lot of people along with marijuana being more socially accepted along with better dosing. Also cost of shit is expensive these days and salaries have not kept up. I say this as and elderly millennial
How do they think these record profits will sustain if they keeps taking every last dime from workers? Oh ya, they don’t think, they are just mindless greedy leeches. They’ll just suck till they get crushed like any other parasite.
If I eat a big breakfast and work through lunch, I feel justified in leaving early. Also around my office the standard noon lunchtime does not exist, some people choose to come in early and eat lunch at 1030 or 11, and others are eating lunch closer to 2.
I don’t give a shit if lunch is supposed to be on “my time,” companies should be paying for every minute you’re there. Lunches should be part of the 8 hour workday because dedicating 9 hours just to be paid for 8 is bullshit.
I’m salaried and don’t really have a set hours expectation, and I’m working in a public service field, so I’m showing up to help people and support my team rather than generate revenue for shareholders. If I were paid hourly by a for-profit company, yeah I’d be less invested.
Your current higher profit margins were my former lunch money. You kept all my raises for yourself, and then gave yourself some nice bonuses for fucking me over.
I love how corporate behavior is all “free market! competition creates better value for the customer!” Then they keep increasing their prices steadily and when that price becomes too much for the consumer they complain about not having any sales anymore and need to increase prices even more to cover lost profits… instead of doing the free market thing which is… ya know… lowering their prices to stay competitive.
Seeing $9 for a freaking cheese sandwich at a coffee shop? It’s not even gourmet shit. In my city, the average sandwich and a drink is about $15. This is convenience stores, deli counters, food trucks, bars.
They all had to raise prices because corporations raised prices.
Add comment